Rassie plays mind games while Ireland heap praise on SA addition to Northern Hemisphere rugby

Former Ireland and British & Irish Lions lock Paul O'Connell is the current Ireland forwards coach. He says the team are focused on themselves. (Photo: Lee Warren / Gallo Images)

By Craig Ray

2 Jul 2024

Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus suggested possible late changes to the Bok side he named on Tuesday before Saturday’s Test against Ireland.

Rassie Erasmus always has an air of mischief about him. Even a task as mundane as naming a team can become an exercise in jousting with the opposition.

On Tuesday, Erasmus named a strong and, dare we say it, predictable Bok team to face Ireland in the first of two Tests.

There are 20 members of the victorious Rugby World Cup 2023 party in the matchday squad for Loftus Versfeld this weekend, with 12 players who appeared in the World Cup final in Paris.

He named a bench with six forwards and two backs — the famous Bomb Squad is back — and within minutes mused aloud whether the team might change before the weekend.

Erasmus threw out the possibility of the bench changing to a seven-one split between forwards and backs. It’s a ploy the Boks used in the World Cup final against New Zealand, winning 12-11, but also against Ireland in the pool stages of last year’s showpiece. They lost that game 13-8.

“There’s one or two niggles [in the squad]; we might still on Thursday go to a seven-one as well,” Erasmus said. “We will give it until Thursday. I don’t want to elaborate on that too much at this point.”

rassie faf de klerk Boks scrumhalf Faf de Klerk is a slight injury concern for the Boks. (Photo: Steve Haag / Gallo Images)

There is some concern over the fitness of scrumhalf Faf de Klerk. If he is ruled out then Grant Williams would move from the bench to start, with No 8 Evan Roos possibly being called up to the bench, making it a seven-one split.

This is why Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu was preferred on the bench — because he covers so many positions in the backline. It’s also why Manie Libbok missed out on selection, according to Erasmus.

“Sacha certainly brings something to the party so that there’s not a lot of changes when we go six-two. That’s actually where Manie missed out,” explained Erasmus.

“If your 12 goes down, Sacha can go straight to 12, because he’s played there for the Stormers. If your flyhalf goes down, he can go straight to 10 and if your fullback goes down, he can go there as well.

“Manie didn’t make the 23 purely because we went with a six-two split. He is not so comfortable at 12. Handré [Pollard] would go to 12 and Manie would go to 10 or fullback.

“It just makes more sense because Sacha can over all three of those positions.”

Ireland don’t take bait

The Boks coach has thrown out plenty of scenarios for the Irish to ponder. Red herrings, or genuine possibilities? Ireland don’t seem too fussed either way.

Paul O’Connell, the hulking Ireland forwards coach who led the 2009 British & Irish Lions to South Africa, said his side respected the Boks and acknowledged their strengths but preferred to focus on their own preparation.

“I got a quick glance at their team,” O’Connell said. “It’s a big thing for any team that is successful, is the kind of continuity the Boks have.

“You look at any of the club sides that have been successful in recent times, they have continuity of coaching, continuity of players, continuity of leadership. They are in a strong position and it is an excellent side that they have named.

rassie boks ireland paul o'connell Former Ireland and British & Irish Lions lock Paul O’Connell is the current Ireland forwards coach. He says the team are focused on themselves. (Photo: Lee Warren / Gallo Images)

“We have been a little bit specific about them, but it has been mainly about doing our stuff a little bit better across the board. The boys enjoy doing that, we enjoy focusing on ourselves.

“I think you have to focus on what the opposition are going to do, but by and large we focus on ourselves a little bit more than we did back in my playing days. I certainly enjoy it as a coach as well.”

Level playing field

In seasons past, Ireland would arrive fatigued at the end of a long domestic and European campaign while the Southern Hemisphere teams were only a few months into their seasons.

This time, the situation is different. With South Africa’s inclusion in the United Rugby Championship (URC) and European competitions, they are on the same activity timeline as Ireland. Fatigue at the end of a long season is something both sides will have to combat.

“South African teams have been a brilliant addition [to the URC] in terms of … they play differently,” said O’Connell. “They all play differently but they all have that certain South African identity as well, especially around set piece, maul and scrum.

“That has been really good for our players. They have learnt to deal with that challenge, to have to train and prepare for it every week. They bring a certain amount of that intelligence into our camp when we come together.

“Playing the South African teams is what the European Cup gave us at the start when we played French and English teams,” added O’Connell. “It helped us realise what the standard was.

“It has raised the standard of the URC massively. It’s probably tough spending more time away from home; when you play in France or England you are probably away for a day or two.

“A lot of the provinces have enjoyed when they have had to go down to South Africa for two weeks, they almost become like an international side.

“They stay in a hotel for two weeks and they get to do a lot of work with the players rather than the players going home in the evening.

“I know a lot of the provinces have gotten benefit from that. Any time there is good coaching and improvements happening in the provinces it always bleeds into us and helps us.” DM

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South Africa

Ireland don’t take bait

Level playing field